By David Crystal

New from Cambridge University Press!

By Peter Mark Roget

This book "supplies a vocabulary of English words and idiomatic phrases 'arranged … according to the ideas which they express'. The thesaurus, continually expanded and updated, has always remained in print, but this reissued first edition shows the impressive breadth of Roget's own knowledge and interests."

Book Information

What makes a 'getting acquainted' a recognizable conversational activity, and how are interpersonal relationships established in a first conversation? This book presents a theoretical framework for the study of relationship management in conversation and an empirical study of a corpus of initial interactions. It provides detailed descriptions of the sequential resources unacquainted interlocutors use in order to: (i) generate self-presentation; (ii) introduce topics; (iii) establish common contextual resources.
It is argued that these sequential patterns embody conventionalized procedures for establishing an interpersonal relationship involving some degree of: (i) solidarity (mutual rights and obligations); (ii) familiarity (mutual knowledge of personal background); (iii) mutual affect (emotional commitment)
The sequential analysis is based on a conversation analytic approach, while the interpretive framework consists of pragmatic theories of politeness, conversational style and common ground.